ALTADENA TREE STORIES
About the Project
My family and I have called Altadena home for 52 years. What created that deep sense of belonging were our neighbors, our community, and the experience of living in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, surrounded by a diverse and vibrant tree canopy.
After the Eaton Fire, much of Altadena’s beloved canopy was scarred or lost. These mature trees stood as quiet testaments to our town’s history, and losing them can feel just as devastating as losing a home.
Moved by the loss of my family’s mulberry and citrus trees, I set out to document the stories of others in Altadena who share a similar connection to a tree—whether it was lost in the fire or is still standing today. The Altadena Tree Stories project is an oral and visual archive initiative dedicated to preserving the memories of Altadena’s trees, and the lives and communities that grew alongside them.
In 2025, photographer Andrea Gaffney joined the effort after conducting her own Witness Trees of Altadena project. Andrea brings her talent and perspective to the project, photographing the people and the trees that hold their stories.
A little about us…
Mona Patterson
Mona Patterson is a science journalist who grew up and lived in Altadena before the fire. The Altadena Tree Stories project began during her senior year of her journalism degree as a way for her to use her reporting skills to document her community’s stories and connection with the natural landscape.
Andrea Gaffney
Andrea Gaffney is a San Francisco Bay Area landscape photographer and urban designer who started interviewing Altadena community members and photographing their trees after the Eaton fire to help document stories of resilience.
Community Stories
Jeff, Palm Street
“When I was a boy, the very first tree I learned to climb was the big camphor tree in my grandma’s front yard. And when I was a grown man shopping for a house to start a family in with my wife, we found a house with a giant camphor tree, just like my grandma’s camphor tree from my youth.
It was one of the driving reasons that pushed us to choose that house to buy and start a family in. During the COVID lockdowns, we couldn’t leave the house much, so I used the time to build a tree house in that tree. Supposedly it was for my kids, but secretly it was the dream tree house that I always had wanted ever since my boyhood.
My heart is broken. It feels like a piece of our world has been amputated. My tree house is ash, and the giant camphor tree I loved so much is dead.”
Lauren, Crest Drive
“The trees meant a lot to my family. They were home to so many critters, birds, squirrels, even the occasional bobcat. They provided my family shade in the hot L.A. summers.
Growing up, my brother and I spent many days climbing in them and swinging on the swings my dad built us.
In later years, I would set up my hammock using the trees and read books under them.
The trees were part of what made our house a home.
While our home did not survive, our beautiful oak trees did. We estimate the trees are over 100 years old and were there even before our house was built. [Their survival] gives us hope and strength for the unknown future.”
Have a tree story you’d like to share?
There is no fee for the documentation.
The interview and photography will require about an hour of your time.
As a small token of gratitude, you will receive a small instant print of your tree.
If you'd like to have your trees and memories documented, please contact us:
The Altadena Tree Project As Seen On….
